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A Kennedy Life 'Interrupted'

RoseMarie Terenzio was JFK Jr.'s personal assistant until his death in 1999.

BOSTON — RoseMarie Terenzio was a wisecracking girl from the Bronx, more crazy about Howard Stern than John F. Kennedy Jr. But the latter had a job open and Terenzio landed it, becoming what any young woman would envy: the personal assistant to the Kennedy heir.

In her new book, "Fairy Tale Interrupted," Terenzio shares her memories of Kennedy and his wife Carolyn Bessette Kennedy from the early days at "George" magazine to the night of the fatal plane crash.

She reflects on a fight they had before taking that fateful flight in 1999, and its significance — or, she says, its lack thereof.

"It was a spat like any other," she says. "Unfortunately, their spats were played out publically. The fact that she wasn’t going to go was just like any other wife or husband saying, 'You know what? You can go by yourself. I’m not going to go.' But because of what happened, it was played up so much."

However, Terenzio emphasizes, "The book is not just about how they died. It’s about my experience, my fairy tale interrupted in their circle and then out of it. I was sort of a fish out of water and they took me in their circle."